Month: October 2024

EU to vote on tariff hike for Chinese EVs as Germany fears retaliation

Posted on by SeeEA

Vienna — The European Union is set to vote Friday on a massive tariff increase on Chinese electric vehicles that Germany fears could spark a trade war with Beijing.

Reuters reported Wednesday that the measure already has enough votes to pass, with support from France, Greece, Italy and Poland, whose populations make up 39% of the EU. At least 65% of the EU’s population must vote against the tariff plan to stop it.

Regardless, analysts say, continued negotiations will be needed on China’s subsidies to its EV industry.

On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron in Berlin called Chinese subsidies “unbearable.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday said talks with China must continue, and he indicated Germany might abstain from the vote.

“More trade with more partners from more countries — that’s what sensible risk management looks like in an uncertain world,” Scholz said, as reported by Reuters.

“That’s why negotiations with China on electric vehicles must continue and why we must finally tackle the areas where cheap Chinese imports are harming our economy, for example steel,” he said.

Bloomberg reported that Germany expected a significant number of EU states to abstain from voting on the tariffs.

German automakers are against tariffs, fearing that retaliation from Beijing could impact access to China, their largest market.

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said Wednesday “A trade war with China would do us more harm than good for a key European industry and a crucial sector in Germany.”

If the vote passes, it could see tariffs on Chinese EVs as high as 45%.

Beijing has hinted that it could retaliate with tariffs on German and Italian vehicles and on European agricultural products such as dairy, pork and French brandy.

Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao visited Europe in late September and met with officials and businesspeople in charge of foreign trade and commerce in the EU, Belgium, Germany, Italy and other auto-manufacturing countries to lobby the EU to abandon the tariffs.

During the negotiations, the Chinese side proposed to set a minimum import price, but the European side refused.

The vote was pushed from September 25 to Friday to allow time for more consultation between the two sides.

Analysts believe the EU may make some compromises due to the complex interests within the EU.

Ja Ian Chong, associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore, told VOA, “Because the EU is made up of many national entities with cross-cutting interests, these may lead to the vetoing of tougher action, much the same way ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) is ineffective in the face of PRC (People’s Republic of China) pressure.”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said during a visit to Beijing in early September that he would urge the European Commission to reconsider raising tariffs on China’s EVs.

Francesco Sisci, an Italian Sinologist, told VOA that the centrifugal forces of member states and political parties within the EU are too strong to make difficult decisions.

In the past, the EU “was ruled by a solid majority centered around People’s parties and Social-Democratic parties and a triangle made of Germany, France and Italy, Sisci said. “Both these two architectures are now partially shattered.”

“The People’s parties and Social-Democratic parties have still a majority but a thin one,” he said. “Italy, with a right leaning government, didn’t vote for the present President of the commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and it is dragging its feet on many EU policies.”

“Germany and France have governments at home that are under siege from new rightist parties,” he added.

Sisci told VOA Mandarin that Germany’s car industry “is dependent on the sales in the Chinese market and yet risks being squeezed out of all markets because of the Chinese EV competition. There are no good or clear alternatives.”

Although China’s EVs have a price advantage in the European market, Chinese businesspeople working in the automotive industry there are more cautious.

Yang is a Chinese businessman in Austria who does automobile maintenance, annual inspection and second-hand car trading. He did not give his full name because of privacy concerns.

Yang said that because of Europe’s economic downturn, consumers there are careful with their money and will not easily replace their gasoline-powered vehicles with all-electric vehicles.

“Many European consumers choose hybrid electric vehicles,” Yang said, talking about his own business. “This year’s data report shows that the sales of all-electric vehicles have decreased by one-third, while hybrid electric vehicles have increased.”

He said tariffs will certainly affect the price of Chinese electric vehicles in Europe, but European consumers are more concerned about other factors such as the life and endurance of the car.

“All-electric vehicles may not be a big market in Europe,” he said.

The EU’s vote comes after a probe into China’s subsidies for the industry and 100% tariff hikes on Chinese EV imports to the U.S. and Canada.

Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.
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In India, pride in Harris’s run for US presidency, but excitement missing

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NEW DELHI — In the small South Indian village of Thulasendrapuram, where U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’s maternal grandfather once lived, locals and priests have prayed to the local deity at a Hindu temple for her victory as she runs for the U.S. presidency.

In the capital, New Delhi, many express pride that one of the candidates for the world’s most powerful office has Indian roots – she is the daughter of an Indian mother and Jamaican father.

But Harris has failed to enthuse others who feel she never built on her Indian connection during her vice presidency.

“It’s quite exciting for someone like me who is a common girl around town,” said New Delhi resident, Simran Singh.

Another city resident, Nandita Soni, and her husband watched Harris debate her opponent, former U.S. President Donald Trump, last month.

“I think she won hands down. Of course, there is a sense of pride for us. That she is, firstly, a woman and then of Indian heritage, feels really good,” Soni said.

Harris is not the only Indian connection to the American presidential race. Usha Vance, the wife of Republican vice-presidential nominee J.D. Vance, is also the daughter of Indian immigrants.

Not many in India have heard of Usha Vance. Those who have, see it as a tribute to a country where immigrants can make a mark.

“I think both of them having a role in the elections is a very good thing for our Indian heritage and diaspora, but I think it is much more important for the American system,” said Shyam Bajpai, a retired professional. He praises Harris for “reviving the Democrat Party’s energy after a very difficult moment with Mr. Biden.”

However, the euphoria witnessed in India four years ago when Harris became vice president is missing. She hosted a luncheon for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year during his state visit to Washington, where she spoke of her deep personal connection to India. In interviews she has said that her introduction to the concepts of equality, freedom and democracy came from her Indian grandfather during her visits to her maternal family’s hometown, Chennai, when she was young.

But some point out that she neither visited India during her tenure as vice president nor emphasized her Indian identity much while in office.

“To be honest we did not hear much of her in India, because as vice president, her connections with India were not all that great,” said Pradeep Bhargava, a New Delhi resident. “We were not getting much news about her.”

That may be why many young Indians ask: Who is Kamala Harris?

“I think she is not on social media,” said Simar Kaur, an undergraduate student in Delhi University. “I get most of the news from social media only.”

But IT professionals who have long eyed the United States for career opportunities are excited about the possibility of an American president with roots in India. “I am sure this will help in more job opportunities for Indians in the future,” said software engineer Vishal Chabra. “It will be good for India as well.”

Those who are tracking the U.S. race see Harris’s bid as another huge milestone for its diaspora in Western countries — Rishi Sunak, who became British Prime Minister in 2022 but lost in July, was also of Indian origin. They also point to the success of Indian Americans who have risen to the top of the corporate ladder in the U.S., heading companies like Google.

“With UK also and now America, Indians are all the way, and it is the way to go from them,” said Soni.

 
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Singapore’s disgraced former transport minister jailed for 12 months in landmark case

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SINGAPORE — A Singapore court on Thursday sentenced a former minister to 12 months in prison for obstructing justice and receiving more than $300,000 worth of gifts, in the first jailing of an ex-cabinet member in a city-state famous for its clean governance.

S. Iswaran, who was a cabinet member for 13 years and has held the trade, communications and transport portfolios, pleaded guilty last week to four counts of improperly receiving gifts and one of obstructing justice.

The sentence handed down was more severe than the six to seven months sought by the prosecution, which presiding judge Vincent Hoong said was “manifestly inadequate” given the gravity of Iswaran’s offenses and their impact on public trust.

“Trust and confidence in public institutions were the bedrock of effective governance, which could all too easily be undermined by the appearance that an individual public servant had fallen below the standards of integrity and accountability,” he said in sentencing Iswaran.

The case has shocked Singapore, which prides itself on having a well-paid and efficient bureaucracy as well as strong and squeaky clean governance. It was among the world’s top five least corrupt countries last year, according to Transparency International’s corruption perception index.

The last corruption case involving a Singaporean minister was in 1986, when its national development minister was investigated for alleged bribery but died before any charges were filed in court.

The investigation caused a stir in the Asian financial hub and centered on allegations Iswaran while transport minister accepted expensive gifts from businessmen that included tickets to English Premier League soccer matches, the Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix, London musicals and a ride on a private jet.

Iswaran, 62, faced a huge media scrum as he arrived in court and declined to answer questions. He showed no emotion during the court session.

The judge allowed him to remain on bail for the next few days and begin his jail term on Monday.

Iswaran had initially said he was innocent and would fight to clear his name but pleaded guilty last week to the five charges put before the court.

The former minister faced a total of 35 charges, two of which were corruption-related but were later amended to charges of receiving gifts while a public servant.

The attorney-general’s chambers last week said they made amendments because of litigation risks involved in proving the corruption charges beyond a reasonable doubt.

Iswaran was arrested in July last year and was accused of taking kickbacks from businessmen including property tycoon Ong Beng Seng. Iswaran was an adviser to the Singapore Grand Prix’s steering committee, while Ong owns the rights to the race.

Ong has not been charged with any offense and has issued no public comment on the allegations. The attorney-general’s chambers last week said it would decide whether to take action against Ong soon.

Judge Hoong in his ruling said there was a higher level of culpability when a public servant holds high office that wield greater influence over business transactions.
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Biden, Harris tour hurricane-affected states

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President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday visited areas hit hard by Hurricane Helene, where more than a million people remain without power and the death toll is climbing. Biden offered as many as 1,000 active-duty soldiers to support the response effort. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from Washington.
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Conservative think tank pushes US to continue engagement in Pacific

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washington — U.S. engagement with a string of Pacific Island nations must continue, regardless of which party wins the White House, the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation said in a newly published report.

The islands, situated between Hawaii and Australia, are the latest front of competition between Washington and Beijing.

In the 45-page report, Andrew Harding, a research assistant in the Heritage Foundation’s Asian Studies Center, argues that it’s time to make the case to taxpayers and Washington policymakers that investing in the Pacific Islands is money well-spent because it “counters Chinese ambitions” and denies Beijing a foothold “that can threaten U.S. national security interests and complicate possible future military operations in Asia.”

That argument appears convincing to some China hawks in the Republican Party.

Alexander Velez-Green, former national security adviser to Republican Senator Josh Hawley, called the report “a compelling vision,” telling VOA in a statement, “The Pacific Islands are key terrain in America’s efforts to balance power against China.”

Likewise, former Asia adviser in the Trump administration Alexander Gray said the Heritage report would benefit “whoever is president in January 2025.”

“I expect a Trump 2.0 would only expand on this important work,” Gray wrote in response to VOA’s emailed questions.

The Heritage Foundation now employs many former Trump administration officials. Last year it released Project 2025, a controversial series of proposals to staff and shape policy for a second Trump White House. Former President Donald Trump has sought to distance himself from the effort, even as his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, claims it defines his policies.

John Hennessey-Niland, who served as U.S. ambassador to Palau from 2020 to 2022, argues that Harding’s message may convince policymakers in Washington but addresses only one of the region’s problems.

“The Pacific Islands are concerned about PRC interference and coercion, but it is not the only threat they face. Other concerns include climate and their own capacity to provide for their people,” Hennessey-Niland told VOA via a statement, using the abbreviation for the People’s Republic of China.

Kathryn Paik agrees. She served as director for the Pacific and Southeast Asia at the National Security Council under President Joe Biden and now works as a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

“Making U.S. Pacific engagement ‘all about China’ neglects precisely what can enable the U.S.-Pacific relationship to grow deeper than anything China could ever hope to have — our history, our culture and our shared values,” she told VOA in response to emailed questions.

Harding said he is just saying the quiet part out loud.

“America’s primary driver is U.S.-China competition and the threats that it poses to America’s national interests and the security of its people,” he told VOA Tuesday in an interview.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has traveled to the Pacific Islands to meet one on one with the leaders of Fiji and Papua New Guinea. He also has hosted numerous other Pacific Islands heads of state in Beijing.

In contrast, the White House has only held joint meetings with Pacific Islands leaders, and Biden has not traveled to the nations.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not respond to VOA’s request for comment.

While analysts differ over the report’s rationale for deeper engagement in the Pacific, they say many of the 31 policy recommendations have bipartisan appeal, including appointing a special envoy for the Pacific Islands, creating more positions at key departments to oversee outreach and planning a presidential visit to a Pacific Islands state.

Greg Brown, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said the appointment of a special envoy is vital to sustained U.S. engagement.

He said the real challenge is convincing the 535 members of the U.S. Congress to increase foreign assistance to the Pacific Islands when few American voters even know where they are, much less why they’re important to U.S. national security.

“Anything requiring funding from Congress will be a chore — not because the demands are large or fiscal-burden heavy, but because members and staffs need constant reminders why securing U.S. interests in this region are imperative,” Brown told VOA in an interview.

He added that the special envoy should be a “heavyweight appointment … with the ear of the president” and the “diplomatic skill to navigate and drive changes” across Washington.
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Chinese gangs revive scam hubs in Myanmar as Beijing eases pressure on junta

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WASHINGTON — A recent report by the U.S. Institute of Peace highlights the resurgence of scam hubs, particularly in Myanmar’s Karen State, due to China’s softened stance toward the country’s military regime.

China’s posture has shifted, said Jason Tower, co-author of the report and the country director for Burma at the institute. 

“They’re now much more focused on regime survival, looking at how they can prevent the [Myanmar] regime from toppling,” Tower told VOA Burmese. “As a result, China has shown much less interest in taking forceful action to pressure the Myanmar military to address these problems.”

According to the report, these criminal networks benefit from the complex dynamics between Myanmar’s military and Chinese interests. China’s focus has shifted from cracking down on scams to supporting the Myanmar military. This change in strategy has allowed the criminal organizations to flourish, using Myanmar as a base of operations.

After contacting the Chinese Embassy in Washington about the issue, VOA received a statement that did not directly address cyber scam operations. Instead, it emphasized China’s focus on peace and stability in Myanmar.

“China and Myanmar are close neighbors with a deep bond of friendship,” wrote embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu. “As a friendly neighbor, China has always paid close attention to the development and evolution of the situation in Myanmar and northern Myanmar. We do not hope to see conflict or chaos in Myanmar and sincerely hope for an early restoration of stability.” 

China’s Ministry of Public Security portrayed the situation differently, according to a report published Monday by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency. In a recent statement on its crackdown on cyber scams, the report said, the ministry highlighted joint efforts with Myanmar authorities, noting that “a total of 870 suspects, including 313 Chinese and 557 Myanmar nationals, were arrested during a crackdown on telecom and online fraud in northern Myanmar.” 

Myanmar’s state-controlled media Global New Light of Myanmar also focused on crackdowns, noting that Myanmar’s police had worked closely with China in extraditing 20 Chinese nationals in September.

Shift in China’s priorities

China’s view on the conflict constantly evolves based on events inside Myanmar, said Thomas Kean, a senior consultant at the International Crisis Group, a nongovernmental think tank.

“Since 2021, we’ve seen different phases, but ultimately, China wants stability in Myanmar to pursue its strategic objectives, keep its borders safe, and ensure that Chinese nationals and the economy aren’t affected,” Kean said.

Tower described how China’s priorities have shifted from addressing scams to focusing on maintaining its strategic interests in Myanmar.

“The Chinese government began prioritizing the advancement of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, which includes infrastructure and trade routes, giving China access to the Indian Ocean,” he said.

Tower said some Chinese strategists had suggested that China had perhaps gone too far in its crackdown on the scam syndicates, losing sight of its broader strategic goals. 

As a result, Chinese authorities pushed hard to broker cease-fire agreements between Myanmar’s military and ethnic armed groups to stabilize the region.

‘Pig butchering’ scams

The Chinese scams emanating from Myanmar have grown in sophistication, the U.S. Institute of Peace report noted. The United States has become one of the primary targets, losing billions of dollars annually to “pig butchering” scams.

“Pig butchering” is a type of investment fraud where scammers lure victims on social media only to defraud them for significant amounts of money, often in cryptocurrency.

Many Americans have fallen victim to scams originating from Myanmar, said Erin West, a deputy district attorney with California’s REACT Task Force to combat high-tech crime.

“They’ve liquidated retirement accounts, children’s college funds, only to find out that the entire thing is fictitious, and they’ve lost everything,” West told VOA. Victims are lured into fraudulent online relationships, believing they are investing in cryptocurrency, she said.

While some criminals are deported back to China, Tower said, broader networks remain primarily untouched and continue to operate with the protection of local warlords and military elites. He is concerned that these scams will increasingly become a threat to U.S. national security.

“These scams are currently causing estimated losses in the range of $5.5 billion per year for the U.S., but other estimates place the numbers as high as $15 billion,” Tower said.

These actors are often under the protection of the Myanmar military or other corrupt regional elites, he added, making it difficult for law enforcement to intervene.

“This is a serious crisis,” Tower said. “We’re seeing a massive transfer of wealth from the United States to bad actors in Southeast Asia — actors that are undermining democracy, highly corrupt and often under the protection of the Myanmar military or other corrupt elites. This is bad news for the U.S. on many fronts.”
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Far-right gains in Europe drive debate on migration, Ukraine aid

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London — A surge in support for far-right parties in Europe is driving calls for a toughening of migration laws, while also raising questions over the future of military aid to Ukraine.

Austria’s Freedom Party, which was founded by former Nazis after World War II, is the latest European far-right party to score a shocking win, taking just under 29% of the vote in Sunday’s parliamentary election, ahead of the second-place People’s Party with 26.3%.

‘Fortress Austria’

The Freedom Party, led by Herbert Kickl, campaigned on a platform of ending migration by creating what it called “Fortress Austria,” carrying out the “remigration of uninvited foreigners” and suspending the right to asylum. The party also opposes military aid for Ukraine and wants to end sanctions on Russia.

Kickl successfully appealed to voters’ frustrations over recent years, said Austrian pollster and political analyst, Peter Hajek.

“Elections are won in those four and a half years before, by taking a position which is clearly distinguishable and good from the point of view of the target audiences,” Hajek told The Associated Press. “And quite simply that’s what the Freedom Party managed to do with two big topics: on the one hand migration, and on the other — still — the coronavirus.”

Far-right success

Far-right, anti-immigration parties have won parliamentary elections in the Netherlands in 2023, Italy and Hungary in 2022, a state election in Germany in last month and the European parliamentary elections in France in June.

Hans Kundnani, an adjunct professor at New York University and the author of the book Eurowhiteness, said centrist parties in Europe are alarmed by the rise of the far right.

“Another election in Europe, another far right success. The response of the center-right in Europe to that has been to say we have to get even tougher on immigration. The center right has increasingly been mimicking far right parties, especially far right ideas on these questions around identity and immigration and Islam,” Kundnani told VOA.

EU summit

Immigration is likely to top the agenda at an EU summit on October 17, as European leaders from across the political spectrum have called for a toughening of asylum laws amid growing domestic political pressures.

“A shift in the EU towards thinking much more in terms of a ‘Fortress Europe’ — that’s building a wall essentially around the EU,” Kundnani said.

The hardening of attitudes marks a sharp turnaround from 2015 when more than 1 million irregular migrants entered the EU, many of them destined for Germany. In 2023, the number had fallen by 75%, to 280,000 people.

The 27-member bloc has agreed to a new pact on asylum and migration, due to come into force in 2026. It’s unlikely to calm Europe’s debate on immigration any time soon, according to Raphael Bossong, a migration expert at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.

“This package that has been agreed upon is about 10 laws. Multiple investments are needed across 27 member states, and an implementation plan with 10 sectors of implementation,” he told VOA. “So it’s a lot of stuff. And to get that into place to really work as a system, as it’s intended, is — even in two years — highly ambitious.”

Ukraine

While strong opposition to immigration unites Europe’s far-right parties, they are divided over support for Ukraine following Russia’s 2022 invasion.

Austria’s Freedom Party, the Alternative for Germany party and Hungary’s Fidesz party under Viktor Orban all oppose military aid for Kyiv and want to end sanctions on Moscow.

Yet other European far-right parties, such as the ruling Brothers of Italy party under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Poland’s Law and Justice party — which was in power until last year — are strongly pro-Ukrainian.

The issue is clouding European politics, argues analyst Hans Kundnani of New York University.

“Precisely what divides these two groups of far-right parties to a large extent is the question of Russia and Ukraine,” Kundnani said. “If you’re on the far right but you’re pro-Ukrainian, then I think a lot of European centrists have no problem with that. And they’re willing to turn a blind eye to almost anything else that these far-right parties do, especially on questions like immigration.”

Much of European Union foreign policy, including aid for Ukraine, requires a unanimous vote from all 27 members, making it easy for individual governments to veto EU decisions. Hungary’s Viktor Orban has repeatedly blocked EU aid packages for Ukraine.

Coalition talks

Despite its shocking victory, Austria’s Freedom Party is still well short of a majority. Rival parties are refusing to join them in government and could form their own coalition. The tactic has been used by other more centrist parties in Europe to keep the far-right from power — with mixed results, said Kundnani.

“They form these incoherent coalitions in response to the rise of the far right,” he told VOA. “Those coalitions then aren’t really able to do very much or offer citizens very much, which further empowers the far right. So it just gets worse and worse.”
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US prosecutors show new details of Trump’s bid to overturn election loss

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WASHINGTON — U.S. prosecutors said Donald Trump was acting outside the scope of his duties as president when he pressured state officials and then-Vice President Mike Pence to try to overturn his 2020 election defeat, in a court filing made public on Wednesday.

The 165-page filing is likely the last opportunity for prosecutors to detail their case against Trump before the Nov. 5 election given there will not be a trial before Trump faces Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.

The filing is meant to keep the federal criminal election subversion case against the Republican presidential candidate moving forward following a July U.S. Supreme Court ruling that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution for their official actions in office.

Prosecutors working with Special Counsel Jack Smith laid out a sweeping account of Trump’s conduct following the 2020 election, much of which has already been made public through news reports, findings from the House committee that investigated the Capitol riot or the indictment obtained by Smith in the case.

It includes an allegation that a White House staffer heard Trump tell family members that “it doesn’t matter if you won or lost the election. You still have to fight like hell.”

Trump has pleaded not guilty to four criminal charges accusing him of a conspiracy to obstruct the congressional certification of the election, defraud the U.S. out of accurate results and interfere with Americans’ voting rights.

Much of the filing focuses on Trump’s dealings with then-vice president and running mate Mike Pence, who Trump tried to pressure into using his official role overseeing Congress’s Jan. 6, 2021, certification of the election results to overturn his defeat.

Trump gave a fiery speech that day before his supporters stormed the Capitol, battling police, sending lawmakers running for their lives and chanting “hang Mike Pence.”

Prosecutors allege that when a White House aide told Trump, who was watching news coverage of the riot on TV, that Pence had been taken to a secure location, Trump responded, “So what?”

Prosecutors said they did not plan to use that interaction at trial given the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling.

A warning to Pence

It also alleges that on Jan. 1, 2021, Trump warned Pence that people “are gonna hate your guts” and “think you’re stupid” if he didn’t block certification of Democratic President Joe Biden’s win.

Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung blasted the disclosures, saying, “This entire case is a partisan, unconstitutional witch hunt that should be dismissed entirely, together with all of the remaining Democrat hoaxes.”

Trump has rejected this case and multiple other criminal prosecutions he faced this year as politically motivated attempts to prevent him from returning to power.

The filing presents a detailed narrative of the evidence prosecutors intend to use if the case goes to trial, accusing Trump of plotting even before the election to declare victory prematurely, replacing his campaign legal team when they allegedly would not support allegations of voter fraud and attempting to “manipulate” Pence into aiding his effort to hold onto power.

The filing provides details of conversations with senior officials in Trump’s administration including Pence and White House chief-of-staff Mark Meadows, who appeared before the grand jury during the investigation.

Prosecutors submitted the court filing on Thursday, but U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan had to approve proposed redactions before it was made public.

Pence was identified by name throughout. The names of many other members of Trump’s administration and state officials he targeted are blacked out in the filing, though details of their locations and actions make their likely identities clear.

Trump’s lawyers opposed allowing Smith to issue a sweeping court filing laying out their evidence, arguing it would be inappropriate to do so weeks before the election. They have argued the entire case should be tossed out based on the Supreme Court’s ruling.

If Trump wins the election, he is likely to direct the Justice Department to drop the charges.

Prosecutors also highlighted a Twitter post that Trump sent during the Capitol riot saying Pence “didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done” during the congressional certification of the election.

Prosecutors said that post “was not a message sent to address a matter of public concern and ease unrest; it was the message of an angry candidate upon the realization that he would lose power.”
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CIA makes it easier for potential informants to share tips

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washington — The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) wants to make it easier — and safer — for people in Iran, China and North Korea to share information with America’s premier spy agency.   

The agency on Wednesday posted online instructions in Korean, Mandarin and Farsi detailing steps that potential informants can take to contact U.S. intelligence officials without putting themselves in danger. 

The instructions include ways to reach the CIA on its public website or on the darknet, a part of the internet that can only be accessed using special tools designed to hide the user’s identity. The CIA posted similar instructions in Russian two years ago following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

“People are trying to reach out to us from around the world and we are offering them instructions for how to do that safely,” the agency said in a statement. “Our efforts on this front have been successful in Russia, and we want to make sure individuals in other authoritarian regimes know that we’re open for business.” 

The tips, presented in text-only videos and infographics, include using a virtual private network, or VPN, to circumvent internet restrictions and surveillance, and the use of a device that can’t easily be traced back to the user. The CIA also urged any potential informants to use private web browsers and to delete their internet history to cover their tracks.   

The messages in the three languages were posted on Telegram, YouTube, X, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. Several of those platforms are blocked in China, Iran and Russia but can still be accessed using a VPN.   

Authoritarian leaders around the world have used the internet as a tool of mass surveillance and as a way to deliver propaganda and disinformation while blocking sites and views deemed unfavorable to the government. 

China, Russia, North Korea and Iran all block access to American platforms like Facebook, for example, and use web access to control which sources of information users can access. 

VPNs and other tools offer ways around this censorship and surveillance, but that ability has made them a target. In its instructions to potential sources, the CIA warned its audience to be selective, as their well-being could depend on choosing the right program.   

“Use a VPN provider not headquartered in Russia, Iran, or China, or any other country that is considered unfriendly to the United States,” the agency wrote in its instructions for Mandarin users. 
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4 Russian journalists accused of working for Navalny group go on trial

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TALLINN, Estonia — Four Russian journalists went on trial in Moscow on Wednesday after being accused of working for an anti-corruption group founded by the late Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny, which was designated by authorities as an extremist organization in 2021.

Antonina Favorskaya, Artyom Kriger, Sergey Karelin and Konstantin Gabov were arrested earlier this year and charged with involvement with an extremist group, a criminal offense punishable by up to six years in prison. All four have rejected the charges.

The trial, which is being held behind closed doors, is the latest step in the Kremlin’s unrelenting crackdown on dissent that has reached unprecedented levels after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago. The authorities have targeted opposition figures, independent journalists, rights activists and ordinary Russians critical of the Kremlin with criminal and misdemeanor charges, jailing hundreds and prompting thousands to leave the country, fearing prosecution.

The four journalists were accused of working with Navalny’s Foundation for Fighting Corruption, which was designated as extremist and outlawed by the Russian authorities in 2021. That designation has been widely seen as politically motivated.

Navalny was President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest and most prominent foe and relentlessly campaigned against official corruption in Russia. In February, Navalny died in a remote Arctic prison while serving a 19-year sentence on a number of charges, including running an extremist group, which he had rejected as politically driven.

Favorskaya and Kriger worked with SotaVision, an independent Russian news outlet that covers protests and political trials. Gabov is a freelance producer who has worked for multiple organizations, including Reuters. Karelin is a freelance video journalist who has done work for Western media outlets, including The Associated Press.

As they were led into the courtroom on Wednesday, a crowd of supporters greeted them with applause. In the courtroom, the four smiled at their loved ones from a glass defendant’s cage.

Addressing reporters from behind the glass, Kriger cast the case against him and his fellow journalists as a cautionary tale and urged journalists still in Russia to leave the country: “It is not a joke. Any person can be charged with anything.”

Favorskaya, in turn, spoke about hope: “Everything that is happening now, the darkness that surrounds us, it is not forever, and we will definitely see the country that Alexei [Navalny] dreamed of, we will definitely live in a country where rights and freedoms will be [respected] and journalists and other people will not be jailed for their views.”

Shortly after the hearing began, the judge ordered that the proceedings be held behind closed doors upon a request from the prosecution, even though the defense objected to it.
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A year after Gaza war started, Turkey battles isolation

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Israel’s campaign against Hamas in the aftermath of the October 7 attack has seen Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the forefront of condemning Israel. However, analysts say Turkey is becoming increasingly sidelined from efforts to end the crisis in a region where Erdogan once sought to play a leading role. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.
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US, China plan Biden-Xi call in the coming days

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WASHINGTON — The United States and China are planning a call between President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping in the coming days, according to people familiar with the discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

This call would follow their last conversation in April 2024 and their face-to-face meeting in Woodside, California, in November 2023.

After his talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi last Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters that both sides “emphasized the need to maintain open lines of communication” between the Chinese and American leaders.

“We also agreed on the importance of the leaders communicating.  And so, I fully anticipate that we’ll see that in the week and months ahead,” said Blinken in New York last week.

Ukraine

U.S. officials have said that they seek opportunities, whenever possible, to find common ground with China, whether on issues such as fentanyl or discussions on artificial intelligence risks and safety. China’s material support for Russia in the war on Ukraine is expected to be a key topic on the U.S. agenda.

On Wednesday, Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said the U.S. does not seek to “contain or constrain China” but wants to ensure an ongoing dialogue and that the competition between the two countries remains “stable and [does] not trend to conflict.”

He also reiterated the U.S. and its allies’ growing concern over Chinese firms supplying drones to Moscow, which have significantly bolstered Russia’s battlefield capabilities in its war against Ukraine.

“What we’ve seen over the course of last two years is a reconstitution of the Russian military with a rapidity and determination that frankly surprises us. The level of Russian militarization, its ability to rebuild its tanks, its missiles, UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles], with the assistance of China, support from North Korea, also from Iran. That has been a topic of real anxiety,” said Campbell during an online moderated conversation at the Washington-based think tank Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“Now we’re in a situation where Russia is seeking to change the territorial lines of Europe, and the fact that China is backing this so substantially is a topic of real concern,” he said.

75th anniversary

This week, China marks 75 years of Communist Party rule. In Beijing, Xi reiterated his party’s plans to “reunite” China with Taiwan.

“The wheel of history will not be stopped by any individual or any force,” Xi said during a recent reception, without naming specific individuals or governments.  He added that it is “where the greater national interest lies” and “what the people desire.”

Taiwan has been self-ruled since 1949, when Mao Zedong’s communists took power in Beijing after defeating Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang, or KMT, in a civil war, prompting Chiang and his followers to relocate to the island.

In 2000, following Taiwan’s second democratic presidential election, the KMT peacefully transferred power for the first time to the Democratic Progressive Party.

While the Chinese Communist Party has never governed Taiwan, it consistently insists that Taiwan must be brought under its rule, by force if necessary.

For decades, however, the U.S. has made it clear that its decision to switch diplomatic recognition from the Republic of China — Taiwan’s formal name — to Beijing or the People’s Republic of China in 1979 was based on the expectation that “the future of Taiwan will be determined by peaceful means,” as outlined in the Taiwan Relations Act.  Under this act, the U.S. has provided arms to support Taiwan’s defense.

On Sunday, U.S. President Joe Biden approved $567 million in defense assistance for Taiwan, as China intensifies its political and military pressure on the self-ruled democracy.

In a statement, Biden announced that he has authorized Blinken “to direct the drawdown of up to $567 million in defense articles and services of the Department of Defense, and military education and training, to provide assistance to Taiwan.”

In Beijing, Chinese officials urged the U.S. to “stop arming Taiwan in any way.”

Lin Jian, spokesperson for the PRC’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters during a Monday briefing that “no matter how many weapons the United States provides to Taiwan,” it will not shake the Beijing government’s firm determination “to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
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State-run media in Latin America criticize US government, candidates

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Madrid — In their coverage of the U.S. presidential election, countries with repressive media such as Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela have taken aim at the American system of government and, to some degree, the candidates themselves.

Following the two assassination attempts targeting Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, Cuban state-run newspaper Granma ran a headline, “The guns speak again in the U.S. elections,” an apparent reference to gun violence in the United States.

But the newspaper made no mention on its front pages Wednesday of the previous night’s vice presidential debate between Republican JD Vance and Democrat Tim Walz in which the two candidates clashed on issues that included gun control. The paper did cover the face-to-face debate last month between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, saying they traded “low blows.”

Overall, Cuban press coverage of the U.S. has not favored either candidate during this election cycle, said William LeoGrande, professor of government at American University in Washington.

“The Cuban press has been very even-handed in coverage of the U.S. elections, mostly offering simple factual accounts of the campaign — no doubt because they will have to deal with whoever wins,” said LeoGrande.

“To the extent that they have offered any critical commentary, it can be summed up as a ‘plague on both your houses,’” he said.

LeoGrande noted that one Granma report said, “There is only one certainty: Whoever wins will be the face invested with the arrogance of the empire with a desire for power.” Cuba has long referred to the U.S. as the “empire.”

To understand how Granma views the U.S. election, VOA emailed its editor, Yailin Orta Rivera, for comment but did not receive a reply before publication. 

In Nicaragua, ‘hate and criticism’

In Nicaragua, state-controlled media have used reports about the U.S. election as a chance to repeat traditional criticisms of Washington, independent media monitoring groups say.

Abigail Hernandez, director of Galeria News and a member of the Independent Journalists and Communications of Nicaragua, said state media such as La Nueva Radio Ya have run reports critical of the American political system.

“These analysis reports concentrate on the judicial and electoral system of the U.S. and criticize the candidacy of Trump,” she told VOA. “I say ‘analysis’ because in reality, these articles are the traditional line of hate and criticism toward the U.S. empire.”

Hernandez added, “They try to say that the U.S. is a sham democracy and that the elections are a reflection of this.”

The government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega did not respond to an emailed request for comment before publication.

In Nicaragua, state media are controlled by Ortega or members of his family, independent media monitoring groups said.

In 2010, Canal 8, which had been an independent television network, had a new chief executive — Juan Carlos Ortega Murillo — the president’s son.

Until then, the channel had been known for scrutinizing governments of the left or right, the Reuters news agency reported. Its new owner is the wife of Rafael Ortega Murillo, another of the president’s sons.

Media analysts say that in Nicaragua and Venezuela, reports on the U.S. election criticized the U.S. political system in relation to key issues of interest to their core audiences, especially migration.

Tens of thousands of Nicaraguans desperate to escape the Ortega government have headed north, seeking to cross into the United States.

Earlier this year, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Nicaragua over issues related to migrant smuggling and human rights.

Venezuela, US in tense relationship

Venezuela’s government has also had a tense relationship with the United States over human rights and the conduct of elections.

Driven by political turmoil, 7.7 million people have left Venezuela since 2014, according to a United Nations report published earlier this year.

Most have headed for other Latin American countries or Spain. Others have ended up in the United States illegally, although there have been efforts to allow some Venezuelans into the U.S. lawfully, the U.N. report said.

Marivi Marin Vazquez, founder and director of ProboxVE, a nongovernmental organization that studies disinformation in Latin America, said state media in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela all used reports about the U.S. elections to criticize the American political system.

“They all look at problems in the political system so they can justify their own systems,” she said in an interview with VOA from Washington, where she has lived in exile since leaving Venezuela four years ago.

“They pick holes in things like contradictions, inequality and the power of corporate interests.”

The Venezuelan government did not respond to emailed requests for comment on coverage of the U.S. election.
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Russian authorities systematically torture Ukrainian POWs, UN says

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Geneva — Russian authorities have subjected hundreds of Ukrainian prisoners of war to “widespread and systematic torture” while supervisors in detention facilities aware of that treatment did nothing to stop the abuse, according to a report published by the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

“We have interviewed 174 Ukrainian prisoners of war, and this includes five medics since March of last year, and almost every single one provided credible and reliable and detailed accounts of torture and severe ill-treatment,” Danielle Bell, head of the U.N. human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine, told journalists in Geneva.

Speaking Tuesday via video link from the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, Bell said the POWs described “severe beatings, electric shocks, sleep deprivation, dog bites, mock executions” and other threatening and degrading treatment.

She said 68% of the POWs reported that “sexual violence, torture and ill treatment occurs at all stages of captivity under appalling internment conditions” across multiple facilities in the occupied territory and the Russian Federation.

She said the routine nature of the abuse, which occurred on a daily or weekly basis and continued throughout the period of internment — sometimes as long as up to three years — “indicated knowledge of faculty supervisors.”

“When external officials of the Russian Federation visited internment sites, in many instances, the torture and ill treatment temporarily ceased and conditions improved, indicating that those responsible for these facilities were aware of the mistreatment,” she said.

“Russian public figures have openly called for the inhumane treatment and execution of Ukrainian POWs,” she said, adding that “these factors, combined with the adoption of broad amnesty laws for Russian service persons, have contributed to a climate of impunity.”

The United Nations report, which describes conditions of detention as poor, “with most POWs reporting food shortages, lack of medical care, overcrowding and poor hygienic conditions,” says 10 Ukrainian POWs have died due to “torture, lack of medical care and dire health conditions.”

Of the 205 Russian POWs interviewed since March 2023, the report says 104 were subjected to torture or ill-treatment by Ukrainian authorities “during the initial stages of their captivity,” including severe beatings, threats of death and physical violence.

“However, in nearly all cases, torture and ill-treatment stopped when prisoners arrived at official places of internment, where conditions appeared generally compliant with international standards,” it says.

Bell underlined differences in the scope and scale of the treatment meted out to Ukrainian and Russian POWs by their captors.

She observed that the torture or ill treatment of the Russian POWs by Ukrainian authorities takes place during their initial capture, in the early days.

She said these practices stop and the captives “are safe once they are inside the internment facilities,” whereas the abusive treatment of Ukrainian POWs in Russian detention centers “happens throughout the duration of their internment.”

Bell attributes the better treatment of Russian POWs in large part to the monitors having unrestricted access to Ukrainian sites where they are held, noting that U.N. officials are “able to carry out a very open dialogue with Ukrainian authorities on where to make improvements.”

She added, however, that the mission cannot look out for the welfare of Ukrainian POWs because it does not have access to them in the Russian Federation, “though we have been asking for access for a long time.”

Other human rights developments

Besides delving into the torture experienced by POWs since Russian armed forces’ full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the 30-page U.N. report also covers key human rights developments in the country from June 1 to August 31, 2024.

The report finds civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure have increased significantly during that period, noting that 589 civilians have been killed and 2,685 injured. That represents “a 45% increase in casualties on the previous three months” and brings the total number of civilians killed since the start of the war to 11,743, with 24,614 injuries.

“During the reporting period, Russian armed forces continued to target energy infrastructure across Ukraine, affecting essential services and deepening concerns about the plight of the civilian population with winter approaching,” Liz Throssel, spokesperson for the U.N. human rights office, said at the release of the report.

She also said intensive military attacks by Russian armed forces against cities across Ukraine such as Sumy, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia “have damaged and destroyed civilian property and infrastructure, including schools, hospitals and even a geriatric care home.”

“And we have documented even more attacks against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure,” said Throssel.

Bell said the Russian Federation has launched nine waves of large-scale, coordinated attacks between March and August targeting Ukraine’s energy generation facilities, primarily thermal, hydroelectric and heating plants.

“The cascading damage from these attacks has affected essential services like electricity, water, heating, sewage and public education,” she said. “Vulnerable populations — for example, older persons, persons with disabilities, lower income households and children — have been disproportionately affected.

“Rolling blackouts are expected to resume this winter,” she said. “But let me emphasize, significant efforts are underway to restore Ukraine’s generation capacity and to mitigate the risks of a harsh winter. But this situation is exacerbated by ongoing attacks.”

The High Commissioner’s report will be submitted to the U.N. human rights council next week.
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US group helps resettle LGBTQ+ refugees fleeing violence, crackdowns

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SAN FRANCISCO, California — Cabrel Ngounou’s life in Cameroon quickly unraveled after neighbors caught the teenager with his boyfriend.

A crowd surrounded his boyfriend’s house and beat him. Ngounou’s family learned of the relationship and kicked him out. So Ngounou fled — alone and with little money — on a dangerous, four-year journey through at least five countries. He was sexually assaulted in a Libyan prison, harassed in Tunisia and tried unsuccessfully to take a boat to Europe.

“The worst thing was that they caught us. So, it was not easy for my family,” Ngounou said. “My sisters told me I need to get out of the house because my place is not there. So that’s what really pushed me to leave my country.”

Ngounou’s troubles drew attention after he joined a protest outside the U.N. refugee agency’s Tunisia office. Eventually, he arrived in the United States, landing in San Francisco in March.

Ngounou joined a growing number of LGBTQ+ people accepted into the Welcome Corps, which launched last year and pairs groups of Americans with newly arrived refugees. So far, the resettlement program has connected 3,500 sponsors with 1,800 refugees, and many more want to help: 100,000 people have applied to become sponsors.

President Joe Biden has sought to rebuild the refugee programs Donald Trump largely dismantled as president, working to streamline the process of screening and placing people in America. New refugee resettlement sites have opened across the country, and on Tuesday, the Biden administration announced that it resettled 100,000 refugees in fiscal year 2024, the largest number in more than three decades.

In contrast, Trump has pledged to bar refugees from Gaza, reinstate his Muslim ban and impose “ideological screening” for all immigrants if he regains the presidency. He and running mate JD Vance are laying groundwork for their goal of deporting millions of illegal immigrants by amplifying false claims, such as the accusation that Haitians given temporary protected status to remain in the U.S. legally are eating pets in Ohio.

Under Biden, meanwhile, two human rights officials in the State Department were tasked last year with identifying refugees who face persecution either due to their sexual orientation or human rights advocacy.

“LGBTQ refugees are forced to flee their homes due to persecution and violence, not unlike other people,” said Jeremy Haldeman, deputy executive director of the Community Sponsorship Hub, which implements the Welcome Corps on behalf of the State Department. But they are particularly vulnerable because they’re coming from places “where their identities are criminalized, and they are at risk of imprisonment or even death.”

More than 60 countries have passed anti-LGBTQ laws and thousands of people have fled the Middle East and Africa seeking asylum in Europe. In April, Uganda’s constitutional court on Wednesday upheld an anti-gay law that allows the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality.”

“There are just a lot of people who are really at risk and are not safe in their country, and they’re usually not safe in the neighboring or regional countries either,” Kathryn Hampton, senior adviser for U.S. Strategy at Rainbow Railroad, which helps LGBTQ+ people facing persecution.

The demand far outstrips capacity: Of more than 15,000 requests for help in 2023, the nonprofit group helped resettle 23 refugees through the Welcome Corps program in cities as large as Houston and towns as small as Arlington, Vermont. It has a goal of resettling 50 this year.

“So, we have a lot of urgency as an organization to find and create new pathways that LGBTQI+ people can access to find safety,” Hampton said.

Another refugee in the program, Julieth Luna Garcia, is a transgender woman from El Salvador who settled in Chicago.

Speaking through a translator, the 31-year-old Garcia said she suffered abuse from her family because of her trans identity and couldn’t legally access gender-affirming care until she arrived in the United States.

“I lived with constant fear, even more so at night. I didn’t like to go out. I was really scared that somebody would find me alone and do something,” Garcia said.

Since arriving in February, Garcia has found a place to live and a job as a home health aide and hopes to study to become a lawyer. “Here, I’m not scared to say who I am. I’m not scared to tell anyone,” she said.

Maybe the biggest change was starting hormone treatments, she said: “To see yourself in the mirror and see these changes, I can’t really explain it, but it’s really big. It’s an emotional and exciting thing and something I thought I would never experience.”

Welcome Corps sponsors are expected to help refugees adjust for at least three months after they arrive. Garcia said the five volunteers helped her “adapt to a new life with a little less difficulty,” by accessing benefits, getting a work permit and enrolling in English classes.

Ngounou recalled how his sponsors, a team of seven that included a lesbian couple, Anne Raeff and Lori Ostlund, hosted him and connected him with LGBTQ+ resources and a work training program. They also served as his tour guides to gay life, taking him to the historically gay Castro district, where Ngounou got his first glimpse of the huge rainbow Pride flag and stopped to read every plaque honoring famous gay people.

“Cabrel was just very, very moved by that. Just kind of started crying. We all did,” Raeff recalled.

“I know that feeling like when we were young, when you’d go into a gay bar and you’d feel like this sense of kind of freedom, like this community,” she said. “That was the only place where you could go and actually be open. And that … this is this community of people, and we all have this in common.”

Now the 19-year-old Ngounou works in a coffee shop and takes college courses, with the goal of becoming a social worker. He hopes the boyfriend he met in Tunisia can visit him in San Francisco — and he still finds it hard to believe that they can share their love openly.

“Here I’m really me … I feel free,” he said. “I feel free to have my boyfriend and walk with him in the street. I feel free, you know, to enjoy myself with him wherever we want to enjoy ourselves. But in Tunisia or anywhere else, in Cameroon, you have to hide such things.”
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Blasts, shooting happen near Israeli embassies in Nordic capitals

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Copenhagen — Police in Denmark and Sweden said on Wednesday they were probing explosions and gunfire around Israeli embassies in their capitals that took place amid spiraling Middle East tensions.

In Denmark, police said three Swedish nationals had been arrested after two blasts were reported in the “immediate proximity” of the Israeli Embassy in Copenhagen early Wednesday.

Swedish police said the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm had been targeted in a shooting on Tuesday just before 6 p.m.

No injuries were reported from the incidents, but both came amid heightened international fears as Iran fired missiles at Israel, which has vowed to respond to the attack.

“Two explosions occurred at 3:20 a.m. at the Israeli Embassy. It is our preliminary assessment that it was due to two hand grenades,” Jens Jespersen of the Copenhagen police said at a press conference.

He added that three Swedes between the ages of 15 and 20 had been arrested.

The police officer explained that one suspect was arrested shortly after the incident near the crime scene and that the other two had been arrested later.

Police said in an earlier statement that two suspects had been arrested on a train at Copenhagen Central Station.

“It’s too early to say if there is a link” between the blasts and the Israeli Embassy, Danish police spokesperson Jakob Hansen said of the Copenhagen incidents.

By midmorning, the area in Copenhagen was cordoned off and police were working at the scene, an AFP correspondent observed.

Denmark’s intelligence service, PET, said it was monitoring events “closely” and assisting the police investigation.

“We are also in dialogue with the Israeli embassy about security, and are constantly assessing the scale of the security measures already implemented in relation to a number of Jewish locations,” PET said in a statement to AFP.

Writing on X, Israeli Ambassador to Denmark David Akov said he was “shocked by the appalling incident near the embassy a few hours ago.”

Swedish police said in a statement that information indicated the Israeli Embassy building had been hit by shots on Tuesday evening.

“We’ve made finds that indicate a shooting at Israel’s Embassy, but we don’t want to disclose exactly what finds have been made since there is an ongoing investigation,” Rebecca Landberg, Stockholm police press officer, told AFP.

Landberg added that an investigation had been opened into an aggravated weapons offense, endangerment of others and unlawful threats.

Police had made no arrests, but Landberg said police were actively gathering and analyzing material from the many surveillance cameras in the area.

Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, several incidents apparently targeting Israeli interests in Sweden have been reported.

In February, police found a grenade in the Israeli Embassy compound grounds, which the ambassador said was an attempted attack.

In May, gunshots were fired outside the Israeli Embassy, which prompted Sweden to boost security around Israeli interests and Jewish community institutions.
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Taiwan shuts down for Typhoon Krathon, bringing torrential rain

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KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan — Taiwan shut down on Wednesday, grounding hundreds of flights and closing schools, offices and financial markets ahead of the arrival of a weakening Typhoon Krathon with one person reported dead and torrential rain lashing the island’s south.  

Officials in the key port city of Kaohsiung, set to be in the eye of the storm, told people to stay home and avoid the sea, rivers and mountains, warning of a repeat of 1977’s Typhoon Thelma that killed 37 and devastated the city of 2.7 million.  

Although the typhoon has weakened, the threats from a storm surge, strong winds and rain remain as it slowly makes its way towards Taiwan’s coast, weather forecasters said.  

The typhoon would lose power once it hits land, said Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai, but would still bring intense winds and rain.  

“But if it moves north, the winds will strengthen again, so the threat to Kaohsiung will continue to exist, and people cannot take this lightly,” he told reporters.  

Once it hits land, the typhoon could be downgraded into a tropical depression and dissipate, which has happened only once before in Taiwan, in 2001, forecasters said. That storm, called Trami, dumped vast amounts of rain leading to massive flooding.  

The fire department reported one person dead, an elderly man in the eastern county of Hualien who fell from a tree, with two others missing and 70 injuries.  

On Wednesday, all the island’s cities and counties declared a day off, shutting financial markets .TWII and cancelling domestic flights, along with 246 international ones, while more than 10,000 people were evacuated, mostly in the south and east.  

Typhoons often hit Taiwan’s mountainous and sparsely populated east coast facing the Pacific, but Krathon is set to make landfall on its flat western plain.

It is forecast to hit  between Kaohsiung and its neighboring city of Tainan in the early hours of Thursday, before heading northeast up towards Taipei, the capital, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.  

“Because of Typhoon Gaemi being quite severe earlier this year, everyone is more cautious and prepared this time around,” said sales representative Yu Ren-yu, 35, picking up sandbags at a government office, referring to July’s storm that killed 11.  

“First be prepared, then we can face this typhoon.”  

The typhoon has revived the older generation’s bad memories of Thelma, prompting extra precautions, said Chou Yi-tang, a government official working in the Siaogang district home to the airport.  

“We were hit directly by the eyewall,” he added, describing events almost five decades ago. “Power was out for two weeks and no water for almost a month. It was disastrous.”  

More than 700 sandbags have been distributed in his district, a record for a typhoon, while authorities are making more to meet demand, Chou said.  

Taiwan’s defense ministry said it had put more than 38,000 troops on standby.  

The north-south high speed rail line stayed open, but scaled back services.  

TSMC2330.TW, the world’s largest contract chipmaker and a major Apple AAPL.O and Nvidia NVDA.O supplier, said on Tuesday it did not expect the typhoon would have a significant impact on operations.  

TSMC’s factories are along the west coast, some in the city of Tainan. 
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VOA EXCUSIVE: AFRICOM Chief on threats, way forward for US military in Africa

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Pentagon — U.S. Africa Command chief Gen. Michael Langley is starting to reshape the U.S. military presence on the continent following the U.S. military withdrawal from Niger.

Uncertainty about the next phase of the counter-terror fight in West Africa stems from America’s lost access to two critical counter-terror bases in Niger. In the east, international participants and troop numbers for the new African Union Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) have yet to be finalized less than three months before the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) ends on December 31.

In an exclusive interview at the VOA on Thursday, Langley said the Islamic State in Somalia had grown about twofold and explained how al-Qaida affiliate al-Shabab had taken advantage of tensions between Ethiopia and Somalia to increase recruitment.

Below are highlights from his discussion with VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb, edited for brevity and clarity:

On the growing U.S. partnership with Angola:

AFRICOM Chief General Michael Langley: Angola has displayed their leadership across southern Africa … I’m very encouraged by the actions of Angola.

With Angola and all the countries across the periphery, you have over 38 countries in Africa that have a shoreline. Economic viability is heavily dependent upon their economic exclusive zones … In the maritime and maritime awareness of some of these countries, we have a number of engagements, whether it be Exercise Obangame Express in Gabon this past summer … We have shared type objectives. They want to be able to stabilize and grow their economy through their fishing industries, but it’s hampered by other countries that are going across their economic exclusive economic zones.

On Chinese aspirations for a second military base in Africa:

Langley: I think they do have, in my best military opinion, aspirations for another military base… We’re actively watching.

On Russia’s Africa Corps:

Langley: As you can see, they’re already in Mali. They’re already in Burkina Faso and, to some degree, in Niger. They’ve been in CAR for a while, Central African Republic, and also in Libya. … (Wagner) has transitioned to the Russian MOD and the introduction of the Africa Corps, trying to replicate what we do best in partnering with these countries and trying to say that their security construct is better. It has proven not to be … I don’t have particular numbers that they’ve introduced to Mali, limited numbers in Burkina Faso and also in Libya. It’s in the hundreds. I’ll just put it that way. It’s not extensive just yet.

On how the disputes between Ethiopia, Somalia and others in east Africa are affecting the war against al-Shabab:

Langley: Well, it comes down to troop-contributing countries: who’s going to play and who’s going to be a troop contributing country in the transition from ATMIS to AUSSOM, and that starts at the end of the year. The sunset of ATMIS is 31 December, and then AUSSOM is supposed to take effect. The unknowns are who are going to be the troop-contributing countries to the AUSSOM construct…It is not finalized yet. That’s the UN, that’s the AU and that’s the government of Somalia doing that. We’re not in those discussions, but it’s going to be revealed soon. I hope so. So, in the ATMIS construct, one of the anchor and frontline countries was Ethiopia. So that’s what has me concerned. Ethiopia, especially in the South West State and their contributions to the liberation and stabilization, has been valuable … So time will tell if they can settle their differences and coalesce into a force that’s very effective, because when they do work together, they’re very, very effective at clearing out al-Shabab … There’re limited operations with the Ethiopians at this time.…Al-Shabaab leadership will try to exploit those disagreements and use that as a recruiting mechanism.

VOA: We’ve heard that they’ve had a stronger recruitment because of that situation. Would you agree with that?

Langley: Yes, I will agree with that. They have used that to their advantage.

On whether U.S. forces may be needed during that transition from ATMIS to AUSSOM to try to supplement security:

Langley: That’s not what we’re there for. We’re there … helping President Hassan Mohamud be able to build his army. He’s going through the force generation … all of our initiatives and our approach on the African continent, with our African partners, will be Africa-led and U.S.-enabled. So our piece of enabling is not our boots on the ground. We’re there to advise and assist, and assist in the training, but the fight is theirs… That’s not my mission… President Sheik Mohammed does not ask for our boots on the ground.

On June comments from senior U.S. defense officials who told VOA that al-Shabab had reversed Somali National Army gains in central Somalia:

Langley: I will say it ebbs and flows…They’re still building the Somali National Army. So as they go on offensive operations, it is stress on the force. As they clear and liberate a region, you have to have a credible holding force there so stabilization activities and efforts can initiate and turn the populace and faith in the federal government of Somalia with the services they provide. So that’s a very, that’s a very fragile period. And if they can’t sustain that, because they’re moving to the next region or next district, it ebbs.

VOA: So that was what was happening in this instance. They couldn’t hold the territory that they had gained?

Langley: Right.

VOA: And that’s where your training is coming in, to try to get them ready to be able to hold that territory?

Langley: Exactly. It takes time. It’s an investment to build an army … so they have staying power, and they can also close the military and civilian divide, where the local populace will have faith in the federal government of Somalia and the national army that is there trying to hold.

On why he’s “cautiously optimistic” the Somali forces will be successful against al-Shabab:

Langley: We are at an inflection point. This is unknown territory … However, when I say I’m consciously optimistic, I’m looking at the whole-of-government effort. … Every time I go there, stabilization activities are increasing…Yes, we need a credible holding force because sometimes the shadow governments of al-Shabab try to re-insert themselves back in that region and try to influence some of the local leaders … So it goes back and forth to some of these regions, but they’re being overridden by some of the stabilization activities that USAID, the biggest contributor, has put forth.

On the collaboration between Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militants and al-Shabab:

Langley: There’s probably aspirations. That’s something that we’re watching closely but, you know, I will stay tight lipped on …

We’re concerned, and we’re closely watching that, because this can turn into a bad neighborhood real quick. This is a strategic choke point on the globe…That’s where a lot of our commerce goes through. It could affect our global economy if those waters don’t have free flow of commerce…

With the Houthis and their actions, and al-Shabab and their actions and (Somali President) HSM trying to keep them from coalescing, that can interdict the free flow of commerce across those waters of the Gulf of Aden, Bab-el-Mandeb, the Red Sea, and through the Suez Canal.

On reports Islamic State in Somalia leader Abdulqadir Mumin is now the leader of Islamic State:

Langley: We have to take it as credible … As far as who is the overall leader–and ISIS professes that–sometimes you’ve got to take that seriously, because that person may have an act or aspirations or put forth operations that can affect our homeland. So yes, we’ve got to take that seriously.

On Islamic State in Somalia’s growth:

Langley: I am concerned about the northern part of Somalia and ISIS growing in numbers, and also the possibility of foreign fighters growing there.

Oh, wow … In the past year, it’s probably grown, probably twofold. Now, I won’t give numbers, but I’d say it’s probably, it’s more than what it was last year.

On whether France, the U.S. and Germany have failed the Sahel:

Langley: If we look at the numbers of the global index for terrorism across the Sahel … 40% of those killed across the globe came from the Sahel. So that’s concerning. It emanated from, the ideology, I would say, emanated down through Syria, through the Maghreb. Arab Spring contributed to it. The fall of Libya contributed to it. That’s how that has grown and metastasized to the numbers you have today…that jihad-type ideology is preying upon the civil society, preying upon the military-aged males.

We are engaging with coastal West African countries because as we look at what direction it’s metastasized, it’s on the northern regions of Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo and Benin. …They understand the enduring solution for terrorism …. it’s not about kinetics. So that’s why I don’t just go see the militaries. I get with USAID, and we sit down with these, with these administrators that go out in the field.

On the possibility of southern Libya providing a solution to the U.S. bases challenge in the fight against terror in the Sahel:

Langley: We’ve affected the conversation… I went in and talked to both sides, the GNU and the LNA leadership, but also I want to say that this is very much in the diplomatic realm. …We need to affect unity to move forward. They are at an impasse, a political impasse, because, for us to fully be able to support building their capacity to fight terrorism, anything emanating from the Sahel, we do need them in agreement, in concert, working together as a joint force.

But I will tell you, you know, there is another elephant in the room–elephant in that country–and it’s the Russian Federation. And so their activities are irrespective of the law of armed conflict, irrespective of rules-based order, irrespective to human rights. So we want to be the preferred partner. We don’t tell them to choose. We don’t give them ultimatums, but through our actions and whatever we offer in a value proposition that protects human rights, that’s mindful of the laws of armed conflict, protects the civil society … both the GNU and LNA understand that, and they have made overtures that they do want to work with us. So we’re in the nascent stages, but they need to address the political impasse that they have between the east and the west. And so our State Department is working that effort.
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Rescuers race to find over 100 migrants missing off Djibouti coast

Posted on by SeeAF

Nairobi — Rescuers are searching for more than 100 migrants off the coast of Djibouti after smugglers forced them to jump into the sea, the U.N. migration agency said on Wednesday.

At least 45 bodies have been recovered from Tuesday’s incident, a death toll that makes 2024 the deadliest year on record for sea crossings on the migration route between East Africa and Yemen, the International Organization for Migration said.

Another 154 people have been rescued from the two boats, which left Yemen for Djibouti with a total of 310 passengers, IOM said in a statement.

“Ongoing search and rescue operations are underway by the Djiboutian Coast Guard to locate the missing migrants,” it said.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of people leave the Horn of Africa in pursuit of better economic prospects in Gulf nations via the so-called Eastern Route, described by the IOM as one of the world’s busiest and riskiest migration corridors.

Survivors told IOM that they were forced off the two vessels by the boat operators in the open sea off the coast of Obock, a port town in Djibouti.

The survivors included a four-month-old infant whose mother drowned, the agency said.

Many migrants on the Eastern Route end up trapped in violence-wracked Yemen and attempt to return to Djibouti.

 
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South Korea’s Yoon, Japan’s Ishiba agree united response needed against North Korea 

Posted on by SeeEA

SEOUL — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol held his first telephone call with Japan’s new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Wednesday and agreed a united response together with the United States is needed to counter North Korea’s threats, his office said. 

South Korea last week welcomed Ishiba’s election as the head of Japan’s ruling party, saying it looked forward to the two countries continuing to improve ties and working together on security and economic issues under his leadership.  

Yoon told Ishiba during their call the neighbors are important partners who share values and interests and invited him to continue to communicate closely and enhance cooperation, Yoon’s office said. 

“The two leaders agreed that South Korea and Japan, South Korea, the United States and Japan need to unite to respond to North Korea’s continued provocations,” it said. 

Ishiba, who was confirmed as prime minister on Tuesday, pledged to seek deeper ties with friendly nations to counter the gravest security threats his country has faced since World War Two. 

Yoon has made it a diplomatic priority to improve ties with Tokyo and build trilateral security cooperation together with the United States by putting years of animosity stemming from Japan’s wartime history behind. 

Ishiba’s predecessor Fumio Kishida and Yoon oversaw a newfound partnership after orchestrating an about-face in ties that had sunk to their lowest level in decades before Yoon came to office, prodded by U.S. President Joe Biden. 
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OPEC+ unlikely to change output policy

Posted on by SeeEU

LONDON/DUBAI — An OPEC+ panel is unlikely this week to recommend any changes to its current deal to reduce production and to start unwinding some cuts from December, despite recent sharp declines in oil prices, five sources from the producer group told Reuters.

Top ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia, or OPEC+ as the group is known, will hold an online joint ministerial monitoring committee meeting on Wednesday.

“Although the oil market situation is a bit complicated, I do not expect a new decision or any change to the OPEC+ agreement in Wednesday’s meeting,” one of the sources said, declining to be identified.

Oil prices have fallen in 2024 with Brent crude last month slipping below $70 a barrel for the first time since 2021, pressured by concern about global demand and rising supply outside OPEC+. Brent was trading near $71 on Tuesday.

OPEC+ is currently cutting output by a total of 5.86 million barrels per day (bpd), or about 5.7% of global demand, in a series of steps agreed since late 2022.

Its latest agreement calls for OPEC+ to raise output by 180,000 bpd in December, part of a plan to gradually unwind its most recent layer of voluntary cuts during 2025. The hike was delayed from October after prices slid.

Compliance by countries with cuts will also be in focus at the meeting and in coming weeks, particularly that of Iraq and Kazakhstan which have promised so called compensation cuts of 123,000 bpd in September and more in later months to make up for past over-production.

An OPEC+ source told Reuters last week that when it becomes clearer that the compensation cuts are being made in September, this will allow the December increase to go ahead as the net supply addition to the market will be minimal.

However, a lack of compliance could prompt Saudi Arabia and others to unwind their cuts faster from December, analysts said.

“If they fail to comply, we can envision a swifter sunsetting of the voluntary cuts,” Helima Croft of RBC Capital said in a report.

The JMMC, which groups the oil ministers from Saudi Arabia, Russia and other leading producers, usually meets every two months and can make recommendations to change policy.
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